


The Tuesday Special Is You

by tracing_the_infinite



Category: RWBY
Genre: Alternate Universe - Restaurant, F/F, F/M, Slow Burn, Yang x Blake, also couldn't think of a title lmao, also slowburns, first time writing rwby fics so hope it's not bad lol, restaurant au but it's more of a steakhouse i guess
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2020-03-28
Updated: 2020-04-17
Packaged: 2021-02-28 19:33:32
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 4
Words: 11,969
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/23352502
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/tracing_the_infinite/pseuds/tracing_the_infinite
Summary: Yang works as the hostess during weekend night shifts at Winchester’s. After a coworker gets into an accident, she is given an extra shift: Tuesday afternoons. Disliking the fact that her perfectly planned semester has been disrupted, she proceeds to go to work and hopes for her coworker to heal quickly. That is, until she realizes a certain amber-eyed girl happens to love the Tuesday special. Yang begins to appreciate her new shift a lot more.
Relationships: Blake Belladonna/Yang Xiao Long
Comments: 11
Kudos: 70





	1. Chapter 1

**Author's Note:**

> so i just got into RWBY even though I’ve been telling myself to watch it since 2015 to talk to my friends about it. Finally did and I’m only 5 years late but I’m glad I did because I love it. I regret not watching it earlier because I could have been a part of this all these years. This is my first hiatus and I'm already seeing SO many memes and jokes about waiting and “everyone going crazy already so let’s [insert things here]” etc. There’s also something called a yorse??? Idk but i’m here now, waiting for vol. 8, filling in the void like everyone else with fics. Hope you guys enjoy. Will hopefully be updating regularly.

Yang’s job had her smiling a _lot_. It’s not that she absolutely loved her job, she just happened to be the face of the restaurant on the days she worked. The host or hostess was the first person customers would see when they walked in. If Yang had a scowl on her face or greeted people less enthusiastically, they might get a bad first impression of the place. That definitely wouldn’t help with keeping said job, especially with the family that owned the place. She could relax a bit, though, when no one was up front. 

She leaned against the cabinet located across from the register on the front desk. Yang had just arrived at her shift, checked all she needed to check, and was currently zoned out in the small host “box”. Her arms hung lazily at her sides as she watched the door through a reflection that came from a fake window in the waiting room. The restaurant itself had no actual windows, just mirrors in place of where glass should be. Her eyes wandered over the dining area to see if any customers needed their plates picked up. As she looked around, the boss’s son walked over.

“Xiao Long. You’re gonna have Tuesday afternoons on your schedule starting next week.”

“What? Why?” she asked, her brows furrowing at the unexpected announcement from Cardin.

“Jaune got into a car accident earlier today,” he laughed. “He won’t be able to work for some time so my dad’s giving one of his shifts to each host ‘til he comes back. He remembers you saying you couldn’t work Tuesday nights so he scheduled you for the afternoon shift, lucky you.”

Yang’s eyes grew wide, focused more on Jaune’s accident rather than her new shift. Then she frowned. “Wait, but he doesn’t have a car.”

“That’s the funniest part. He was lucky his bicycle took most of the impact.”

“His bike? Jeez, is he gonna be ok?”

“I guess. Though knowing how much of a wimp he is, it might be a long time.” He laughed again. “Maybe a couple of weeks. While that happens, everyone else needs to pick up the slack. If you got a problem with that, you know who to talk to,” Cardin smirked before walking to the server area in the back.

Yang leaned her elbows on the front desk, not exactly thrilled about having one of her only free afternoons gone. She also didn’t like how enthusiastic Cardin was about Jaune getting hit by a _car_ but knew she shouldn’t be surprised. He had such a mean streak even in high school where, unsurprisingly, his favorite target to terrorize was - you guessed it - Jaune. Yang’s thoughts drifted back to her new shift and she frowned. She didn’t have long to mope around as she noticed activity near the restaurant’s entrance. Removing her arms from the desk, she put on a big smile on her face as two elderly customers walked past the waiting room to the front desk.

“Hello there, party for two?”

They smiled and nodded. 

“Would you prefer a table or a booth?”

“Booth please.”

Yang grabbed two menus from behind her and led them over to Cardin’s section, placing them on the table. She grabbed two napkins filled with silverware from a small cabinet at the end of the dining area and set them down on their table. 

“Your server will be right with you.” She gave them another warm smile before walking back to the front desk to ring up the couple that had just gotten up from their seats to pay.

* * *

“Thank you, have a nice night!” she grinned and waved as the last of the customers walked out. Yang locked the front door then walked over to the last dirty table to finish wiping it down. Once she made sure it was squeaky clean, she walked back to the credit card machine, entered the remaining tips, cashed out Cardin and Russel, then proceeded to count the register while they counted the money to tip her out for the night. 

“Wonder how long I’ll have to wait this time,” Yang muttered under her breath, knowing she was too far for them to hear. She looked towards the back of the dining area where she knew Cardin and Russel were just chatting away.

Wednesdays weren’t really her favorite days to work. She had to seat people, bus tables, and ring them up, though doing all of that wasn’t really the problem. The problem was not getting paid enough for it. Cardin and Russel were supposed to give her ten percent of their total tips for helping them out by bussing but rarely did. Being the manager’s son, Cardin was able to get away with a lot of things and since Russel was a close friend of his, he was able to as well. Yang couldn’t complain too much. Money was money, after all. Even if they paid her a little below the ten percent, that was still enough for an extra shift without actually having to work it. That was the cool thing about tips, anyway.

She finished up the register and walked to the server area, hoping they’d notice her right away. She didn’t want to wait longer than she had to to head home. Cardin’s back was to her but Russel was definitely facing in her direction. She stuck her hand out once he noticed her. His expression soured as he walked up and begrudgingly dropped a few dollars into her hand. He shrugged then walked back over to Cardin, who still hadn’t turned around. Probably on purpose. Yang’s shoulders sagged and she rolled her eyes. She placed Russel’s money into her pocket before holding out her hand once more.

“Come on Cardin, let’s just get this over with so I can go home.”

Finally deciding to take an interest in her, he counted some dollar bills then proceeded to drop those into her open hand as well. 

She took a quick look at what he had given her, unamused. “Gee, thanks _so_ much.”

“Whatever.” 

She gave him the widest smile she could before walking to the back and clocking out. Grabbing her jacket and helmet from the employee lockers in the breakroom, she exited the restaurant through the backdoor, the cool night air hitting her skin as soon as she did. Yang undid her ponytail and let her wild hair roam free. Donning her gear, she got on her trusty motorcycle and headed home. 

* * *

Yang’s keys jingled as she opened the door to her small apartment. She flipped the lights on, placed her helmet on a nearby table, then walked over to the small couch and plopped down. 

Tonight had been kinda busy. Not busy enough to stress while at work but busy enough to warrant more than fourteen dollars from both her coworkers. While cleaning the tables that had left cash tips, she might have sneaked a peek at how much some customers had left. Both Cardin and Russel had made about a hundred bucks, give or take, based on her calculations, but each had only given her seven dollars each. Definitely not ten percent. But that was the thing with Cardin and his friends. None of them were really bound by the rules. 

_Why does he have to be the boss’s son?_

Yang sighed. She didn’t want to keep complaining. It was just that tonight’s shift had been very close to kicking her ass. If there had been any takeout orders, she would have definitely been screwed. Knowing her mood would sour if she continued to think about the tips, Yang got up and dropped the cash inside of a large pickle jar hidden behind her flatscreen. 

It was actually starting to fill up halfway, especially thanks to this couple that ordered the same three meals every two weeks. The husband always left a nice tip. She smiled. Guess her mood did lighten after all.

She suddenly remembered what Cardin had said about Jaune and decided to message her good friend, Pyrrha, unaware if she had already heard the news.

YXL: _hey did u hear abt jaune?_

A few minutes passed before her phone buzzed in response.

PN: _No, what happened? He didn’t get fired, did he?_

YXL: _no buuut he might have gotten hit by a car. winchester’s giving his shifts to other hosts while he gets better._

PN: _D:_ _that’s horrible news!_

YXL: _yeah cardin said he’s doing ok but u know what would make him feel better in no time? a surprise visit from u ;)_

PN: _Yang!_

YXL: _u know he’d appreciate that. i know u would too lmao don’t deny_

There was silence for a minute as Pyrrha didn’t respond. Yang laughed as she imagined how red Pyrrha’s face might have gotten after she sent that last text. Probably as red as her hair. She turned off the living room lights and walked to her room.

YXL: _c’mon pyrrha, it’d help him, u, and me. u know how much work i had to put into getting this schedule for my last semester :(_

PN: _I’ll visit him tomorrow but that means I’ll be skipping our gym workout._

YXL: _fine with me :) he needs u more than me. srsly. maybe he’ll even get better sooner lol_

PN: _I doubt it. Thanks for letting me know, Yang. I appreciate it :)_

YXL: _no prob. tonight was kinda tough so i’m going to sleep early. good luck with tomorrow ;)_

PN: _Yang!_

YXL: _;)_

Yang laughed as she grabbed her pajamas from her drawer before heading to the bathroom to get ready for bed. She brushed her teeth, turned off all the lights and cautiously walked back, jumping into her bed with a soft _thud_. She clicked her smaller tv on in her room but then decided she really was too tired to watch any of those cheesy romance movies before bed. Turning it off, Yang immediately drifted off to sleep.

* * *

Yang had only been working at _Winchester’s_ for about six months. In that time she had learned a lot about the inner workings of restaurants. Maybe not those big fancy chain restaurants but definitely small, family-owned restaurants. And maybe just restaurants in _general_ after having worked mainly retail and cashier jobs in other places. The idea that the food and drinks weren’t already magically prepared was shattered when she saw her coworkers pouring the drinks themselves on her first day. Still, working at the steakhouse made for some pretty interesting situations sometimes. It also gave her something else to list under “experience” on any future job applications.

Yang continued to stare up at her ceiling, still lost in her thoughts. She had just woken up and wanted to stay in bed. She grabbed her phone from her nightstand and checked her emails to see if any classes had been cancelled. Nope. Yang sighed. 

It was Thursday morning - well, technically afternoon now - and she had class later that evening. It was pretty rare when professors cancelled but she would rather see the announcement from her bed before walking into an empty classroom. Today and Tuesday were one of the only times she was free to do homework, go to the gym, or study before class. If she had to go to work right before her class started, that would definitely cut into her school time during her last semester. Her _busiest_ semester. 

She sat up on her bed for a few more minutes before changing into her workout clothes and heading to the gym, aware that without Pyrrha there she probably wouldn’t get as much work in. They usually egged each other on during their workouts, making them work twice as hard. 

About an hour later, she returned to her apartment and showered. She grabbed her laptop and began working on her assignments. Yang always felt more energized after working out and managed to channel that energy into her homework. Her phone buzzed about two hours later, just as she wrapped up an assignment. It was a text from Pyrrha.

PN: _Jaune’s ok. He’s got a broken leg and wrist but he’s doing fine. He was actually really happy I came to visit :)_

YXL: _what’d i tell u?_

PN: _Shut up._

YXL: _u know u love me ;)_

PN: _I do but it doesn’t make you less insufferable sometimes_

YXL: _wow the truth comes out :O_

PN: _The truth has been out :P_

Yang laughed at her phone, taking a much needed break. She got up from the couch and stretched her muscles before heading to the small kitchen to make lunch. She still had a few hours before her first class started. Knowing her time was going to be limited starting next week, she made a quick sandwich and began to willingly study the next few chapters instead of turning on her gaming console.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I'll be cross-posting on FF too. Also, let me know how you guys feel about the restaurant scenes involving customers. I’m not sure if there’s too much dialogue or too little. That way I can just summarize the interactions if needed. Or add more descriptions to them/people in them. I hope I manage to get the characters right since this is my first rwby fic. First time using ao3 sorry for formatting mistakes too. I’m really excited to start this restaurant AU and hope you guys like it as well :)
> 
> Ps if you play ffxiv, i have a blake alt on the crystal data center! (also a non-rwby character on primal as well if u just wanna hang)  
> pps also i wrote that intro note before RT posted that AC x RWBY fanart so now i have a vague idea of yorse............  
> pps hope you guys are staying safe with all this covid19 stuff.


	2. Chapter 2

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I'm gonna try to update this weekly and hope i keep up with it bc i've never written a multi-chapter fic. hope you guys enjoy this chapter.

Friday had been uneventful so far. Yang had an early breakfast with her father and sister like always before heading back to her apartment to get ahead in her reading once more. She showered and showed up to work a few minutes early, coming in through the back. Laughter and other sounds of conversation bounced around the walls of the hallway as she walked through.

 _Must have been busy in the afternoon_. 

Yang made her way to the server area and noticed a party of eight people sitting and chatting at a table in the middle. Most of their plates were put to the side but others were still moving around bits of their remaining food. One man was looking over the check. She reached the server area and saw Sun already prepping the shift’s supplies as usual. 

“Hey Sun.”

“Hey Yang!”

She noticed red hair out of the corner of her eye and turned to look at her good friend. 

“Hey Pyrrha. Been busy all day or just now?” She leaned against the wall as she spoke.

“Hi Yang,” Pyrra gave her a tired smile. “Just now. Everyone came in during the last thirty minutes of the shift but most of them have paid already. We were just waiting on that big party.”

“That big party must have been nothing for the best server in the restaurant and her sidekick, though, huh?” Yang grinned slyly.

“Did you forget Jaune’s not working already?” Pyrrha raised her brows at her.  
  
“‘Course not! I know for a fact-” Yang quickly looked up at the front and saw a brown ponytail, “-that Violet, is...She really...yeah ok, I did forget.” Her apologetic smile turned into something more mischievous. “So how was working without your _cruuush_?” 

“Shush!” Pyrrha hissed, her face turning a bright shade of red. She looked around to see if Sun had heard anything but he didn’t seem to notice. She turned back around and tried to playfully push Yang away but Yang laughed and managed to dodge in time. Her lips formed into a shit-eating grin. 

“You’re _so_ easy to tease.”

“You’re _so_ lucky you’re not interested in anyone right now, Xiao Long,” she fired back with a smirk. “Hasn’t your shift started, by the way?”

Yang glanced at the clock on the wall. 5:01 pm. 

“Ha ha. Nice change of subject. See ya later, dork.” 

She started walking up to the front but then noticed the man at the big party had finished looking over the check and left his credit card resting on top of it. 

“Hello, sir! Would you like me to take that up for you?” She asked brightly, pointing at the bill.

“Oh,” the man glanced down at the check, “I was going to bring it up but since you’re offering, yes, thank you!”

Yang laughed, “No problem.” She nodded and grabbed the check off the table, heading for the front. As she got closer, she gave a small wave once she made eye contact with Violet. They chatted for a few minutes about Jaune, the new shift changes, and being unable to count the register as it was really busy at the end of the shift. Violet rang up the check then handed it back to Yang. 

“Do you think you could take this back while I finish counting the register? I haven’t worked the lunch shift in a while so I forgot how busy it could get,” she said sheepishly. 

“Yeah, of course! Take your time. I’m here, right? So I can help seat people if they come in and you can keep counting.” 

Velvet gave a sigh of relief. “Thanks, Yang.”

Yang walked back to the table and gave the man his check, being stopped to chat a bit more. He mentioned how this was the first time their family and friends had eaten at _Winchester’s_ and the service and food had been amazing. Yang bragged a bit about Pyrrha and Violet and cracked a few jokes about food, making the entire table laugh. A few people showed up at the front so she bid the party farewell and went up to seat them.

Velvet finished counting the register, thanked Yang once more, then said goodbye. As she turned the corner to go into the hallway to clock out, Neptune rushed in, almost slamming into her. He apologized and quickly looked around to see if Cardin had arrived, a look of relief passing his face when he realized the boss’s son was also running late. Neptune proceeded to clean up the remaining tables before walking to the back to chat with his best friend, Sun. 

* * *

Having Neptune as the busboy was a double-edged sword. The customers definitely loved talking to him and some would even come back another day to talk to him about something else that happened to them that week. Sometimes he did his actual job well in addition to keeping customers entertained and sometimes he didn’t. Tonight was definitely the latter. 

“Thank you, have a nice night!” Yang repeated for about the fiftieth time that night. She grabbed the customer’s receipt off the front desk after they left and turned around to input the tip into the credit card machine. 

“So, it’s pretty busy tonight, huh?” Neptune casually slid into the host box to sit on the cabinet and talk to her. His eyes wandered from booth to booth.

“Yeah, busy for me. Especially since the busboy isn’t really doing his job,” Yang turned to roll her eyes at him. 

“What?” he asked breezily, waving his hand as if to wave away her comment. “Says who?” 

“All the tables I’ve had to clean up while you’ve been chatting away with the customers. And if you’re not with the customers, you’re talking to Sun,” she gave him a pointed look.

“Ok, maybe I _have_ gotten a _bit_ distracted with _certain_ individuals,” he glanced at a particular young lady sitting in Russel’s section, “but hey, Cardin’s here and he hasn’t yelled at me yet.” 

Yang facepalmed. Did he not hear what she just said?

“That’s because I clean them up before he or Russel sees.” She gave an exasperated sigh. “C’mon Neptune. You know you’re on your second strike. Don’t let Cardin give you a third because of one dumb salad plate that wasn’t picked up in time. You know he doesn’t need a legitimate reason.” Her frown lessened. 

At this, Neptune’s carefree expression changed into a more serious one. “You’re right, Yang. Sorry. I’ll do better.” He smiled apologetically before walking back to the dining area, picking up several dishes before placing them into the bus tray in the back. Once he made sure no one else needed anything, he chatted up two strangers in Cardin’s section. After a few minutes, he picked up some more plates then walked over and laughed along with an entire family in Sun’s area.

Yang watched him for a bit, amused at how easily he could make conversation. Neptune and the customer could have nothing in common but he’d be there talking for ten minutes without the conversation feeling at all forced. He was just that charismatic, she guessed. Not that it helped him when she first started working here. 

He had definitely tried to hit on her, to no avail. It didn’t help that he had just tried to hit on another girl in the restaurant a few minutes before. Yang chuckled at the memory before turning to watch the front door through the reflection in the waiting room. She finally relaxed, knowing Neptune would do his job much better after being reminded of the stakes. Or should she say, _steaks_. 

Whatever. No one was even around to hear her awesome pun. 

* * *

So far, Saturday wasn’t too busy, thankfully. It had been steady but nothing unmanageable. These were the kinds of shifts Yang liked. The ones that were steady enough to keep busy but not too busy. The ones where there was enough time to walk to the back for some kind of snack or drink and chat up someone that wasn’t Cardin or Russel before needing to go back up to ring someone up or seat them. Not all shifts happened to be like this, but when they were, Yang definitely couldn’t complain. Saturdays themselves were also pretty cool for one particular reason. 

The phone rang as if to prove her point. Yang glanced at the clock across from her and smiled. It was around six o’clock. This was around the time _she_ would call. She picked up the phone, hoping it really was her. Yang wanted to test her memory. 

“Hi, this is Winchester’s, thank you for calling. How can I help you?”

“ _Hello, I’d like to place a takeout order_.” 

Yup. Yang knew exactly who was calling. She recognized the voice on the other end of the line. This was the couple that ordered food every two weeks. The Belladonnas. She smiled. She had been waiting all week for this.

“Yeah, totally! For Kali, right?” 

“ _Yes, that’s right!_ ”

“And that would be the prime rib, cooked medium rare, one baked potato with everything on the side, two seafood combos, one baked potato with everything, one with fries, and three salads with ranch, honey mustard, and blue cheese, right? One with no carrots and extra honey mustard and lemon.” Yang grinned, feeling very proud of herself as she wrote everything on the to-go notepad. 

She knew their order by heart now and tonight was finally the week to prove it. More to herself than anyone. They had been ordering the same thing since probably before she had started working there. When she was new, she had dreaded the order since she was still trying to learn the ropes. But now? She could handle it easily.

“ _Wow, you’ve memorized the whole order? I guess this means we might be eating there too much_ ,” the woman laughed.

“I’d like to think that maybe I’m just too good at my job,” Yang bragged with a small chuckle, letting herself have this one before adding, “Um, seriously though, was that correct?”

“ _Yes it was, I’m very impressed_.” Yang pumped her fist in the air.

“Alright, cool. Your order should be ready in about 20 minutes.”

“ _My husband Ghira will be picking it up like always. But you probably remembered that too._ ” Yang heard a hint of a smile on the other end. It wasn’t much, just getting a food order correct, but Yang felt like it still brought enough joy to make a difference in someone’s life, albeit a small difference. The voice continued, “ _Thank you!_ ” 

“No, thank _you_. Have a nice night!” Yang hung up the phone, smiling at the notepad. Then practically skipped to the kitchen window. She dropped the order in and proceeded to make the sides and salads for the order, thankful that the restaurant had slowed down enough for her to take the time to do so. Once she got everything ready, she placed the items in a plastic bag and waited for the cooks to let her know when the actual meals were finished. 

She rang up a few customers and seated others, following the rotation as best as she could. She helped Neptune by clearing off some plates while he was distracted but it wasn’t as bad as the day before, thank god. Once Neptune noticed, he picked up his pace without a word. As Yang finished setting the utensils for a recently-seated couple, she heard a ding echo through the dining area. That meant the takeout order was ready. 

She walked back to the kitchen, checked to make sure everything was correct, added the extras, and placed the meals in another plastic bag. She looked up at the front. No one needed to be seated or rung up. Nice. 

“Is that the order you’ve been waiting for since last week?” Pyrrha’s voice rang out from behind her. Yang turned around, her expression cocky. 

“As a matter of fact, it is. Looks like I’m gonna give you a run for your money, Pyrrha. I memorized their entire order, no sweat.” 

“And it only took you, what? Four months?” She teased. 

Yang’s expression faltered as she responded, “Uh, five months.”

“Sorry, I didn’t catch that.” Pyrrha moved her hands behind her ears and cupped them in a very exaggerated fashion. 

“I said five months,” she laughed, “I know you heard me! For such a nice girl, you can be such an asshole sometimes.” She put on a dramatic flair and placed her hand on her heart. “I can’t believe you’re one of my closest friends.” 

“Hey, _you’re_ the one that started it.” She raised her eyebrows at Yang, knowing she couldn’t dispute the facts. “Let me know when you memorize their orders in less than two weeks, maybe then you’ll have me on the run.” She clicked her tongue at her with a wink. “Plus, this is payback for all the teasing you’ve done to me the past few days about...Jaune,” she trailed off and her face flushed with the smallest hint of red. 

Not one to miss out on any good opportunity, Yang cupped her own ears and imitated Pyrrha’s earlier actions, “Sorry, didn’t catch that!” 

Pyrrha laughed and pushed Yang away towards the front. “Go take the order up front already!”

Seeing this as a win in the end, Yang gave Pyrrha a haughty wave before bringing the two bags up front to the table behind the front desk. She totaled up the bill, knowing exactly what the total would be already. She just wanted to make sure her memory (and math) was correct. Yep. $64.02. Yang stood behind the register and waited for a familiar silhouette.

The Belladonnas were one of the constants of the restaurant for Yang, along with a handful of other regulars. Every two weeks they would order the same thing, a family meal, she guessed, since there were three orders and only two of them. Once she started recognizing Kali’s voice over the phone, her husband Ghira left her an extra couple bucks. Not many people left tips for the takeout orders so, to Yang, this was pretty cool. 

Their order also meant an extra five bucks every two weeks even though they really didn’t need to leave anything. She didn’t want them to feel obligated to leave anything. She just really liked how happy people would get over something so small like remembering them or their voice.

She seated a couple of people in Pyrrha’s section, then Russel’s, then Cardin’s, following her rotation. A few minutes later, a large, dark haired man appeared.

“Ghira!” She gave him a wide grin, “I have your order ready.”

Ghira returned the smile, “My wife said you memorized the whole order. She was very impressed.” 

Trying not to look too pleased with herself, Yang described the order once more, pointing out the items in the bag when mentioned. Her eyes twinkled the entire time from excitement over getting the order correct.

Ghira’s eyebrows rose, “Now _I’m_ impressed.”

“It only took me five months,” Yang laughed, “but I’m getting pretty good at remembering orders from regulars now. Oh, it’ll be $64.02.”

Ghira grabbed the two bags. He handed over some cash and two pennies, “Keep the change.” He smiled and walked out.

“Thanks!” Yang managed to call out before he had completely exited the restaurant.

She started counting the money. Twenty, fourty, sixty, seventy…...seventy-five oh two? Yang’s eyes widened. Had Ghira really just left her an extra six bucks? Eleven dollars total as a tip? No way, that was way too much to tip every two weeks. Hell, it was way too much to tip for this, she thought. She’d have to say something in two weeks when he came back otherwise she’d feel guilty. She pocketed the money, still in disbelief, with a dumbfounded smile on her face.

A couple hours passed and the night started slowing down around 8:30 pm. Cardin had told Russel and Pyrrha they could start on side work so Yang took that as her cue to cash out their tips. She grabbed the money from the register after she totaled up the tips and walked to the back. Yang walked over to Pyrrha and gave her the money. She then walked over to Russel who had been watching the entire exchange. He knowingly held out his hand and just nodded when she gave him his money as well. As she was about to walk back up to the front, Cardin’s voice rang out.

“Hey cash me out actually, so that lazy-ass Neptune can leave too. I don’t know why we keep him on, we should just fire his ass.” Russel snickered at his words while counting his money. 

Yang didn’t acknowledge she heard him and simply did what was asked of her. She gave Cardin his money without a word, somewhat brusquely. He glared at her before looking at how much money was in his hand.

“Thanks.” He didn’t even count his money before grabbing eight dollars. “Hey Neptune, better walk over here if you wanna get tipped out.”

Yang rolled her eyes as she walked away, already knowing Cardin was going to rip Neptune off but what could she do? Nothing, as long as he was the boss’s son. 

As her shift came to a close, Yang hoped the next few days would pass without too much work.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Sorry no Blake this week but soon™. Hopefully i got their characterizations okay haha. Will try to update this every thursday and if not, then friday.


	3. Chapter 3

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> It's Blake time. jk...
> 
> ...😳 unless???

Yang got her wish. Work had been decent but nothing unmanageable on Sunday and the Monday lectures made way more sense as a result of her reading ahead. Who knew that stuff actually helped? Better students than her, probably. Her week seemed to have started off really well. The trouble was Tuesday.

Waking up earlier than 12 pm on Tuesday morning wasn’t something Yang particularly liked. She had picked her classes the way she did for the _sole_ reason that she’d get to sleep in before her evening classes and maybe have time for some schoolwork beforehand.

 _At least I got one semester in before having my routine flipped_ , she thought as she groaned into her pillow. She took a few minutes before glancing at her phone again, turning off her last alarm and making sure she read the time right. 

10:22 am. That was enough time to shower, eat breakfast, then ride to the restaurant to get there at 12 pm, right? She closed her eyes and put both arms over her head. 

Yang willed her body to move but her bed just felt _so_ nice and _so_ warm. She drifted to sleep once more before opening her eyes a few minutes later. At least, it felt like she had only closed her eyes for a few minutes. Her bangs covered her eyes as she grabbed her phone, jolting awake once she read the time. 11:24 am.

 _Oh shit_. 

Yang jumped out of bed, grabbed her uniform, and ran to the bathroom. If she took a really quick shower and skipped breakfast she could definitely make it on time. Maybe. Then Cardin wouldn’t have a reason to fire her. Maybe. 

Stumbling out of the shower, she quickly toweled off and put her work clothes on. She grabbed everything she needed before heading to the front door. She looked at her phone once more before putting her helmet on. 11:37 am. Yang grinned. Time was racing but she had her trusty Bumblebee at the ready. She revved her motorcycle then sped off. 

* * *

Yang rushed in through the backdoor of the restaurant and beelined to the breakroom, placing her gear into her locker. As she exited the room at a quickened pace, she almost hit someone with the door.

“Whoa, whoa!”

“Oh crap. Sun, I’m so sorry!”

“Hey, hey don’t worry about it. You’re right on time,” he chuckled, glancing at the clock. “Wow, definitely right on time.”

“Thank god. I overslept and had to race over here. I didn’t know if I would actually make it in time.” Yang’s eyes wandered around. “Wait, so Cardin doesn’t work today?”

“Nah, not for today’s lunch shift. If he was here though, you can bet he’d definitely-”

“Try to write me up for almost being a minute late? Sounds like something he would do,” she rolled her eyes as she clocked in. 12 o’clock on the dot. 

“Yeah, pretty sure he’s tried to do that to Nep a couple of times. But he’s not here so don’t worry about it,” he gave her a reassuring smile then walked to the server area, motioning for Yang to follow. “Not to mention that no one’s here during the first few minutes of opening, so no one would really complain if we opened at like, 12:09 for example. 12:20 though? _Then_ we might get in trouble.”

Yang laughed. “So, anything else I should know about this shift?”

“Oh, that’s right. You haven’t worked the lunch shift before, huh?” he said thoughtfully. They had reached the server area and Sun leaned against the wall near the soda fountain, rubbing his chin with his thumb. “Well, it’s just like the weekday night shift. Only difference is you gotta get the drinks for the customers too. But you get 15 percent of the tips versus the 10 you get at night so that’s pretty cool, huh? Not to mention afternoons don’t get too busy so it’s pretty easy money most of the time.”

Yang nodded her head. “Seems straightforward enough.”

“If you need more info, I’m pretty sure there’s a checklist in one of the cabinets behind the front desk.”

“Thanks, Sun.” 

“Yeah, don’t mention it,” he smiled cheerfully. “Oh uh, don’t forget to unlock the front door. I guess I should have mentioned that first.” His smile turned sheepish and he rubbed the back of his neck.

“Shit.” Yang rushed to the front as Sun finished preparing the afternoon’s supplies. She grabbed the key from the hidden compartment in the first drawer and unlocked the door, sticking her head out to see if anyone was waiting nearby. Nope. Her first Tuesday shift seemed to be starting off without a hitch...if she didn’t count the few extra winks of sleep she got earlier.

* * *

Sun had been right. No one had come into the restaurant for the first few minutes after their shift started. Since Yang hadn’t been able to eat breakfast and her stomach was protesting loudly, he suggested she eat a bowl of soup since it had just been made. 

Sun jokingly stated they weren’t technically allowed to eat during their shift but who was around to stop them right now? Plus no one would miss a bowl of the “soup of the day” since there was so much of it. Around 12:30, two young adults walked in, chattering excitedly. Yang grabbed two menus from behind her. 

“Hey there, party for two?”

“Yeah, can we get a booth in the back?”

“Alrighty, just follow me,” she said cheerfully walking them to their destination. She then walked to a smaller cabinet just in front of the server area and grabbed two napkins that wrapped around a set of utensils, placing them on the table. “Here you go, your server will be right with you.” 

She smiled and walked back to the front, keeping her eyes on the front door. After a few minutes, Sun walked around the corner and headed to his table with a big smile. 

“Hey there, my name is Sun. I’ll be your server. Can I get you guys started with something to drink? Or are you both ready to order?”

Yang’s shoulders dropped upon hearing this, realizing she had already forgotten the one thing she needed to do differently during lunch shifts. Get the drinks. 

_Dammit._

“Uh, I think we’re ready to order.”

Before Sun finished taking the order, she looked at the front to make sure no one was just about to come in, then walked to the back and grabbed two glasses from their designated place near the soda fountain. She grabbed the ice scoop and filled them up all the way. At this point, Sun had come back. 

She gave him a sheepish look. “Sorry about that. I forgot I had to get their drinks.”

“No big deal, it’s just me today,” he chuckled. “I don’t get mad if you forget drinks. Sometimes it actually gets too busy during the lunch shift for you to get _all_ the drinks.” He checked his order slip twice before looking up and noticing the two glasses she had just filled up with ice.

“They got two root beers by the way,” he said, his head motioning to the glasses before he dropped the order into the kitchen window. “Order up!” 

“Right, thanks.” Yang pushed the root beer option on the soda fountain and filled both cups up before dropping a straw in each. She took them to the two guys and came back.

“Oh and just to make it easier on yourself, you can also just fill up the cups halfway with ice instead of the whole thing. That way you don’t have to refill as much since they have equal parts soda and ice instead of just ice. It helps when it’s busy. Especially with iced tea. Speaking of iced tea...” he grabbed a pair of metal tongs from the side and placed them in the lemon container, “you need to put a lemon in each unless they specifically ask for no lemon.”

“Wow,” Yang looked at Sun in awe. “Based on our short interactions I would have never guessed you could actually teach a newbie.”

Sun gave her a somewhat offended look.

“I don’t mean it in a bad way,” Yang laughed, “I just always see you goofing around with Neptune. You and I don’t really talk much on the weekends, y’know? You being back here and me being up front. The only time I really talk to you is when I cash you out at the end of the night. And even then it’s just a few words every week. But now I’m really glad Cardin isn’t here for my first shift. He’d definitely be giving me a hard time, expecting me to know all this already.” She sighed, exasperated just thinking about him. 

“You do have a point there. Well, if I remember any more helpful hints I’ll be sure to let you know,” he said with a wink. “I bet I’ll remember more. I used to be a host too, y’know.”

“Cool,” she grinned. “Thanks for all the help.” Yang’s eyes wandered to the front where an elderly couple had just walked through. She walked to the front to help them out.

* * *

It had been about two hours since she had started her shift but Yang felt confident she had gotten everything down. She hadn’t forgotten to get any drinks and excelled at refilling them. After getting those basics down, she had decided to look at the checklist Sun had mentioned, just in case. She couldn’t read part of the sentence near the top due to water damage but hoped it wasn’t anything too important. 

All she could read was something about changing the special on the board, so she erased the FRIED CHICKEN and wrote down TUNA SANDWICH SPECIAL. While reading the rest of the list, she realized she was the one that needed to make the cleaning solution to wipe down the tables but Sun had already helped her out with that when she went to the back to check. She also had gotten more napkins from the supply room to refill the ones running low and organized the utensils. 

Looking back down at the checklist after ringing up a customer and cleaning off their table, she noticed another entry. _Make sure servers have two booklets each. They are in the front under the cabinet next to the wall_. Puzzled, she opened the bottom drawer and saw the notepads the servers used to take orders. 

Each server had two except for Sun and Pyrrha. Their pile only had one each. Yang grabbed two blank notepads then placed them on the front desk. She grabbed a pen and looked around to make sure no one needed help, which no one did as the restaurant was completely empty. Now that she thought about it, it had been empty for about the past half hour. She looked at the time. 2:25 pm. 

_Was this normal for a Tuesday afternoon?_

After writing “Pyrrha” on one book and “Sun” on the other to remind herself which ones she needed, she left them next to the register and walked to the back. Sun was pouring himself a soda and eating some crackers.

“So, is having no customers in here normal around this time?” she asked him, voicing her thoughts from earlier.

He looked at his watch and finished crunching the crackers. “Yeah pretty much starting around 2 or 2:30. Like I said, afternoons don’t get too busy. It’s easy money since it’s not that much work.” He popped another cracker into his mouth then washed it down with a swig of soda. He opened up another packet before popping both crackers into his mouth. Yang watched him, amused. He seemed so comfortable just being at work. 

“I guess I’m just not used to it being this slow. It’s definitely busier during the night. We always have a few people in here.” She took a few steps away from him to get a view of the door from the back and noticed someone. “Guess someone’s coming in now though...I think. But she’s still walking in from the parking lot so she could just go next door or something.” The girl left her sight and Yang stayed in place for a few seconds to watch if the door opened after all.

But upon hearing Yang’s words, Sun’s eyes widened as he realized what the time meant exactly and he looked at his watch once more. He tried to quickly swallow the crackers he had just put into his mouth, causing him to choke a bit before he finished them off with his drink. He violently dusted the cracker crumbs off his shirt.

“Yep, definitely coming in,” she said, noticing the door open slowly. She turned to Sun and watched his behavior. “Is this why we’re technically not supposed to eat on the job?” she teased, pointing at his face. 

“Maybe.” He chugged the rest of his drink. 

“You’ve still got some crumbs on your chin,” she said, motioning to her chin’s right side before she quickly walked up to the front and grabbed a menu.

“Oh thanks.” She heard him say from a distance behind her. Sun quickly wiped off the wrong side of his chin before grabbing his notepad to scribble something down.

Readying herself, Yang gave a big grin as the girl stopped next to the door, reading the specials of the day. When she turned, Yang’s grin faltered. 

The girl was beyond pretty. She was holding a book and wore a plain dark purple shirt with black jeans. Her long black hair seemed so silky and smooth and a black bow adorned the top of her head. But her _eyes_. Yang had never seen anything like them. Glowing amber. The girl looked puzzled.

“Did you guys change the date for tuna sandwich special?” Her disappointment was very evident as she spoke. 

Her voice was really nice too.

Realizing she was just staring at the girl, Yang recovered. “No, we definitely should have it today. Tuna Tuesday after all.” Yang chuckled quietly at her own alliteration before putting the menu down and leaning over the front desk to look at the specials board. The girl glanced back at the board, unsure if she had just misread it. She turned back and looked at Yang, still puzzled.

“It should be on the board…” Yang mumbled before reading the words TUNA SANDWICH SPECIAL in her own handwriting. She rubbed her chin thoughtfully, still leaning over the front desk. “Yeah, it’s right there.” 

Unsure why the girl missed such large and bright letters, Yang chuckled nervously before adding, “I wrote it there myself this morning so, oh-”

Yang glanced at the board again before realization finally struck her. While she had in fact, changed the special, she did not change the date. It still read MONDAY instead of TUESDAY. She felt absolutely embarrassed but before she could correct herself, the girl perked up when she heard that last part and relief flooded her eyes, a small smile forming on her face.

“Oh, no, I did see it but seeing the ‘Monday’ just confused me. I thought maybe they wrote the special yesterday and forgot to change it for today. If you say you wrote it earlier though, then I have no reason to doubt you.” She looked at Yang expectantly and just stood there, waiting.

Forgetting she was working as an actual hostess because of such an awkward situation, she took a second before realizing the girl was waiting to be seated.

“Oh! Sorry, table for one? Er, I mean or a booth? Whichever?” Yang’s fingers fumbled over the menu as she tried to grab it from the tabletop. 

_This is a great time for the menu to get stuck. Stupid air pressure. Surface friction? Whatever._

The girl glanced at the menu popping free from the flatness of the desk before giving her a small smile. “A booth would be nice, if possible.”

Feeling a semblance of normality once more, Yang looked around. “Hmm, I don’t know. It looks like we’re pretty full _but_ I’ll try to squeeze you in since you caught my mistake,” she winked and motioned for her to follow. Remembering the girl had a book, Yang stopped at a booth with a decent amount of lighting and placed the menu down. 

The girl sat down, set her book next to her lap, and looked up, her smile turning into something a bit more sly right before she spoke. “So then forgetting to change the board to Tuesday _was_ your mistake.”

Yang smiled sheepishly. “Yeah, I don’t know how that completely went over my head. It’s been almost three hours and no one’s mentioned it to me. To make it worse, I didn’t even notice the Monday written down _and_ I’ve checked the board myself to see what the soup of the day is. Not to mention the specials board is right next to the fake window I check to see if the door moves…” she trailed off as she dug herself deeper and deeper into her explanation.

“Well, thanks for clearing that up and getting me a booth during such a _busy_ time,” the girl responded dryly then grinned before adding, “I don’t know what I’d do if I had to wait for my tuna sandwich. The seafood here is my favorite.”

“I haven’t really had any of it. Just the burgers. But I'll definitely have to try some now, especially if it brings you back,” Yang smiled at her.

Amused, the bow-girl nodded and smiled back. “Let me know what you think.” 

“Definitely,” Yang said, liking the conversation but feeling as if she had overstayed her welcome when the girl didn’t say anything else. She didn’t want her to feel like she _had_ to make conversation with her. She nodded then started walking back up to the front but the girl’s voice rang out hurriedly.

“Oh, um, I haven’t seen you around here before, what happened to Jaune?”

“Uhh, he got into an accident so they picked me to work today and I kinda _never_ work afternoons.”

“That explains a lot. Especially the board,” she laughed before her expression turned serious. “I hope he gets better soon, though. He’s nice.” Yang nodded. 

The girl’s eyes wandered behind Yang over to where Sun turned the corner, already having tea, utensils, and a tuna sandwich at the ready. The girl’s thoughtful expression changed into excitement suddenly. Her eyes seemed to sparkle.

Noticing her gaze and turning around, Yang put two and two together and was…disappointed? But why? She had just met the girl. She saw everything Sun was holding and mentally kicked herself. She didn’t even get her drink or any utensils. The past few minutes were definitely not her best piece of work.

“Oh crap, sorry Sun. A lot happened and I forgot to ask her for a drink,” Yang closed her eyes for a second, realizing what she had just said before opening them again. “I mean, ask for her drink, not a drink,” she laughed nervously, while the girl gave another amused look. Why was she suddenly so flustered? She’d had conversations like this before and hadn’t had anything like this happen.

 _You just don’t wanna step on any toes!_ she thought.

He placed everything down on Blake’s table then sat down next to her. “C’mon Yang, I already told you it’s fine! We _are_ pretty busy after all,” he motioned to the empty restaurant, “but not for a friend, I guess.” 

“Not you too!” Blake laughed and lightly slapped his shoulder, causing Sun to smile and laugh as well. “Do you guys only have one joke around here?” 

Hearing this, Yang’s nervousness dissolved and she joined them in laughter before hearing the telephone ring. She walked up to the front and answered.

“Hello, thanks for calling Winchester’s, how may I help you?” she paused. “A takeout order? I can definitely do that for you.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> heyo thanks for reading and leaving comments and kudos. blake's intro was gonna be way longer but i decided to cut it in half otherwise it would have been a monster of a chapter compared to the prev ones lol. hopefully the restaurant/customer scenes are ok. i kinda suck at describing appearances and backgrounds and stuff haha. i'm catching up on my pre-written chapters but hopefully i can keep up (but FFVIIR is out now too...) and if i can't, then this might change into a bi-weekly thing or more.
> 
> stay safe out there!


	4. Chapter 4

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> hello i totally forgot yesterday was thursday. quarantine, amirite? seriously, though, hope you guys are staying safe.

After listening to the takeout order and writing it all down, Yang hung up the phone, smiling as she glanced at Sun and his friend having another laugh before walking to the back to prepare the order. Now that she was farther away, she could organize her thoughts and get over that random wave of nervousness. She focused on the takeout order.

The guy on the other end of the line hadn’t ordered much. She loved small orders like this. Two baked potatoes and a small salad? That meant she only had to deal with the sides unlike a big order. Getting those orders ready was hell when they were really busy. She prepared the sides, the small salad, asked the kitchen for two baked potatoes, and placed it all in a bag before walking back to the front.

Looking down at the server books laying on the front desk, she remembered she still needed to actually work on Pyrrha’s and Sun’s. Opening up Pyrrha’s first, she proceeded to write “Pyrrha” again under “server” then flipped the page and continued. This happened for 48 more pages and took way longer than Yang thought it would. It kinda felt like she was in one of those cartoons writing “I will not talk in class” over and over again on a chalkboard. Finally done with Pyrrha’s book, she placed it under the cabinet then opened up Sun’s and continued to write, happy his name was only three letters long. 

Zoning out while writing, she would occasionally steal glances at the two of them laughing and having an amicable conversation while the girl took bites out of her sandwich. Sun had called the girl his friend and already seemed to know her order. Plus the girl had implied she was a regular before, so maybe she came every Tuesday for the special? That would explain why Sun was so ready with everything. Maybe Sun was an added bonus for the girl but...maybe he wasn’t. If he was, Yang could definitely see why. 

_Why am I still thinking about what a random customer would like?_ Yang shook her head.

She heard the door open and glanced up. Putting her pen down, she looked at the entrance and grabbed a couple of menus. Two young women walked in, giggling the entire time. Sun and his friend looked over. He said something to her as he slid out of the booth and walked back to the server area. 

As Yang went to seat them, the two girls mentioned how they were waiting for a third person. She nodded and motioned for them to follow, placing their menus on the booth across from the girl with the bow. She got them three sets of utensils, two drinks, and joked about giving them straws solely because she liked them, throwing a wink in there for the fun of it. This increased the giggling from the brunette on the right. The amber-eyed girl glanced over at Yang’s display, amusement still in her eyes as she took another bite of her sandwich. She escaped Yang’s notice. 

Not wanting to give them the wrong impression, Yang tried to leave them as they waited for their friend but the brunette’s friend called her back.

“No, wait, come back! Our friend should be coming in like, right now.”

“Well, if she doesn’t come in soon, I’m gonna have to charge you a fee for making me wait,” Yang joked. Laughter rang out once again. 

Once the other friend arrived a few seconds later, Yang got her drink as well then bid them farewell as she walked to the front. She heard Sun greeting them behind her. She was just about to continue Sun’s booklet when an older man arrived at the front.

“Hey there, party for one?”

“Actually I’m here to pick up a to-go order.”

“Oh, I’ve got that ready for you. Let me go grab it.” She smiled before walking to the server area, looking in the dark haired girl’s direction for a quick glance beforehand. She was halfway through her sandwich. She turned and caught Yang’s eyes and gave a small smile. Smiling back before looking away, Yang suddenly felt very self-conscious about the walk back from the server area to the front. She grabbed the takeout order and mentally told herself not to look at the girl anymore. It was just weird at this point, right?

_Why was she so enraptured by her anyway?_

After stiffly making her way back up to the front, she gave the man his bill and charged him. 

“Keep the change,” he said as he turned to leave.

“Thanks! Have a nice night! Er, day!” She smiled in disbelief. No one really left the host any tips for doing the to-go orders so she was always surprised whenever she did get some, even sometimes just a dollar. She pocketed the bills and started writing distractedly in Sun’s booklet again. She paused only to pick up the trio’s salad plates and chat with them a bit as she refilled their sodas, causing a lot of giggles once more.

Yang knew she was able to get a few laughs from people interested in her, but this might have been a bit ridiculous. She didn’t mind though. The girls seemed to enjoy her presence, especially that brunette. If Yang brightened up anyone’s day that would definitely be a win in her book.

She went back up to the front just as Sun came around the corner with the meals, balancing multiple heavy plates solely on his left arm. Yep, she could definitely see why Sun’s friend would be interested. Afterwards, he went back to sit next to the girl, chatting animatedly. The girl pointed to his chin and he turned slightly red before vigorously wiping his whole chin. They laughed and continued talking. She finished her lunch and was now just enjoying her tea while chatting. 

Unsure why she was feeling so disheartened at their interactions, Yang picked up her pen and focused on Sun’s booklet. She was on page 27 and needed 23 more to go. 22. 21. 20. Sun. Sun. Sun. Over and over and over again-

“You’re pretty popular with the girls, huh?”

Yang jumped, unaware the dark haired girl had walked up to pay. Her face flushed instantly, embarrassed she had been startled so badly. She hoped her face wasn’t the same color as the dark red on her _Winchester’s_ shirt.

“I guess you could say that,” Yang tried to nervously laugh her fright away, taking the check from the girl’s hand. She glanced down at the total. “Uh, that’ll be eleven twenty-five.”

“They certainly liked your winks. You give them away so freely,” the girl gave a small smirk as she handed over a twenty dollar bill.

“Part of the job,” Yang replied, her confidence finally returning. She grabbed the change from the register. “I gotta charm people so they keep coming back, y’know, otherwise this place might shut down,” she said as she dropped the change into the girl’s hand. 

“Oh, I see,” the girl nodded _very_ seriously, obviously not believing a word Yang said. “And you definitely can’t have the business shutting down.”

“Exactly!” 

“I can’t say I was charmed, though. You did almost make me miss out on the special.” 

Yang’s grin faltered only for a second. “Guess you’ll just have to come back so I can try again, huh?”

“I mean, I’m here pretty often so I’m sure you’ll have another chance," she smiled wryly. "I'll look forward to it. Well, have a nice day.” The girl started walking out, pausing to point at the specials board. “Don’t forget to change that,” she said, the same sly tone as earlier, and added a wink of her own before walking out.

Yang laughed, “I won’t!”

She finally finished Sun’s booklet with a goofy grin plastered on her face. She placed the booklet where it was supposed to go before actually going up to change the date on the board. Her mood was definitely lighter than it had been a few minutes ago.

She put the chalk markers back in the drawer then walked over to clear the table where the girl had been sitting. She picked up the tea mug and sandwich plate and dropped them off in the bus tray. She grabbed the cleaning cloth and began to wipe down the table, eyes drifting to the gratuity she had left on the table near the salt shaker. Yang’s eyes widened. The girl had left ten dollars. Ten dollars and her meal was around eleven. That was definitely way more than she needed to tip. But with the way she and Sun were talking...could Yang really be surprised? She found her mood dipping slightly once again, unsure why this was taking such a toll on her. Why did her feelings suddenly decide to ride on a roller coaster today? She was usually so confident in what she felt. 

There was no more time to dwell on it as the three girls walked up to the front to pay. She quickly wiped the rest of the table before returning the cloth to its place and running up to the register. Once they had left, she cleared off their booth as well and wiped it down. Noticing there was no one currently in the restaurant, Yang grabbed the girl’s ten dollar bill then walked to the back near the serving area. She saw Sun checking his phone, bored.

“Uh, here’s what that girl left you,” she said, handing him the money.

“Which girl?” He reached out and accepted it.

“Your friend, I’m assuming? The one with the bow?”

“Ohhh. Yeah, she always leaves a small tip even though I tell her she really doesn’t need to.” Sun gave a small smile and glanced down at the money in his hand. He frowned. “But this definitely isn’t a small tip. _What?_ Are you sure this is what she left?” He looked at Yang, bewildered.

Based on Sun’s reaction, she was relieved. Kind of. At least now Yang knew this was an oddity for Tuesday afternoons and not the norm. 

_Shut up, brain. Stop fixating._

“Yeah, that’s what I saw after I cleaned the table,” she replied with a quizzical look.

“Holy shit, she usually leaves me like four bucks. Wonder what was different with today?” He held out the money and pondered for a few minutes. 

“It was definitely the cracker crumbs on your chin,” Yang joked.

Sun laughed and shook his head before looking at his phone and typing something in. 

“So, you’re telling me she doesn’t leave you like a ninety percent tip every time she comes in.” 

Sun shook his head again. “Nah, I guess today was the exception. But hey, it means more money for you too. Fifteen percent of all tips.”

Wait. Did the girl really leave extra because she knew the host would get some of it? No way. She probably didn’t even know how they split the tips, right? Yang’s curiosity finally broke through.

“And who was that, exactly?” she asked, trying to be as nonchalant as possible. 

“Oh, that’s my good friend Blake!” Sun smiled. “We went to high school together. I’ve known her for a while now. Her and Neptune.”

“Wow, so it’s a whole trio of good friends, huh?”

“I mean yeah, if you put it that way,” he laughed a bit before continuing, “but Nep’s more of my friend than hers. He’s not really as close to Blake as I am.” His expression grew wistful for a second before he shrugged it off and continued. “Why’d ya ask?”

“Oh, no reason really. I was just wondering since I’ve never seen her in here before. I can recognize most regulars now so I’m pretty confident I would have remembered her,” she mumbled. “She mentioned she comes here often and that the seafood here is her favorite too.”

“Oh yeah, Blake _definitely_ loves her fish. Remember not to get between her and her sandwich!” A hearty laugh escaped his chest.

Yang chuckled along with him at the thought of that pretty, shy girl getting mad at anyone for touching her food. She wondered what would have happened earlier if they actually _had_ moved the Tuna Sandwich special to Mondays instead and she had missed out.

“So she uh, come around often?” Yang hoped Sun wouldn’t notice all her questions revolved around this “Blake” girl. She didn’t know exactly why she was asking either. Sun seemed happy to respond, though.

“Just during the past couple of weeks. I think this semester she’s been coming around more. She’s got more free time now that she’s finished most of her classes. Pretty sure she’s graduating this summer.” His eyes opened in realization. “Hey, aren’t you in school too?”

“Yeah, I’m actually graduating this year too. Tried getting all my classes on Tuesdays and Thursdays so I’d have a four day weekend but uh, that didn’t happen.” She shrugged. “Some classes weren’t available at those times but it’s fine. I got pretty close and managed to _work_ around it, eh?” Yang gestured to the empty restaurant and showed off the loopy _Winchester’s_ printed on her employee shirt.

Sun let out a small chuckle, “Ok that was _not_ great.”

“But you laughed!”

“It was a pity laugh!”

“Riiight. So anyway, enough about me, what about you? You go to school or anything?” Yang decided she had asked enough questions about Blake. She didn’t want to seem weird about it, even to herself.

“Nah. I _tried_ going to college, here in Vale actually, but I guess I was just done with school. Decided to take a gap year after freshman year and then just….never went back. I stayed here though because I fell in love with the city. Now I’m just working two and a half jobs trying to get by.”

“Two and a half?” Yang asked, puzzled.

“What? Oh! Yeah, if you count me helping out Neptune at his other ‘job’ during the weekdays. He walks dogs but sometimes manages to get more dogs than he can handle.” Sun facepalmed. “If only he didn’t love their owners so much.” 

“I can totally see that,” Yang snickered, “he _would_ walk dogs just for pretty girls.”

“Yeah,” Sun said, amused. His eyes wandered for a bit before he suddenly said, “Oh looks like there’s people up front.”

Yang’s eyes widened, realizing she had been too invested in their conversation to notice anything. “Shit, sorry. Forgot to keep watch on the door. Duty calls.” She gave Sun a two-finger salute before briskly walking up to the front desk to meet with the three elderly customers. She noticed they seemed a bit disgruntled and wondered exactly how long they had been waiting. She gave them a bigger smile than normal as she spoke, hoping to alleviate some of their irritation.

“Hello there, I’m so sorry for the wait. How many in your party today?” Their sourness partially melted away, seemingly infected by Yang’s happy energy. 

“We’re going to have a total of four people. May we have a booth?” The elder woman with longer hair asked with a polite smile.

“Sure thing, just follow me and I’ll take you to your seat,” Yang replied, grabbing four menus as she did. She led them to one of the bigger corner booths in the back, perfect for sitting four comfortably. She grabbed the utensils from the cabinet in the back and set them down. She chatted with them for a few minutes, complimenting their attire and suggesting what types of food they might like after being asked. A particularly grouchy old man had finally given her a smile and decided to take her entree suggestion. 

“I’ve taken enough of your time,” she laughed, “so your server will be right with you!” Yang started to walk away before feeling she was missing something. Halfway between the customers’ booth and the front desk, she realized she had forgotten the drinks, too busy wrapped up in the conversations she was having...again. Hoping Sun hadn’t noticed, she walked back to the customers, chuckling nervously, “Actually...can I get you all started with something to drink?”

* * *

_A coke, two waters with lemon, and an iced tea._

After feeling confident in remembering their drink orders, Yang walked to the server area where the soda machine was. Grabbing four glasses from under the cabinet, she looked around for the small ice scoop and proceeded to fill them up halfway, just like Sun mentioned he liked to do. She began to pour the different drinks starting with the coke first.

_Coke, two waters with lemon, and an iced tea. Coke, two waters with lemon, and an iced tea. Coke-_

“Almost forgot to get their drinks again, huh?” Sun smirked, arm leaning against the top of the cabinet.

Yang looked at him, embarrassed. “It’s not like I work lunch shifts all the time.” She started filling up the other glasses with water, stopping before it reached near the top so the lemons wouldn’t make it overflow.

“I know, I know. I’m just teasing. It’s kinda nice having you here for a change though. Not that Jaune doesn’t do his job, but it’s pretty nice getting to talk to you for longer than like ten minutes on the weekends. You’re a pretty cool gal.”

Yang shook her head in disbelief. Sun continued, watching her plop a lemon in each water glass.

“A lot of the servers think you brighten up the customers’ moods and now I see why. That grouchy old man actually cracked a smile for you. I’ve seen him do that like _one_ time the whole time I’ve worked here,” he gave her a lopsided smile. Yang grabbed the last cup and started filling it with iced tea. Sun’s phone buzzed and he looked at the message and laughed. “Blake just proved my point. Looks like another happy customer.” He grinned wickedly at his phone before typing a few words and holding it out to show Yang his recent texts.

SW: _an extra six bucks? :o_

SW: _what gives?_

BB: _it’s not all for you, dummy._

BB: _the hostess was really nice :) thought i’d give a bit extra._

SW: _wow thx i’ll be sure 2 let her kno ;) she’s right here_

BB: _SUN_

BB: _don’t you dare_

BB: _[typing bubbles]_

Dumbstruck, Yang spilled some of the iced tea she was pouring before she managed to steady her grip and put the pitcher down. Sun turned his phone back to himself and snickered at Blake’s most recent response, typing something else as Yang grabbed the rest of the glasses, still in awe. He put his phone away then glanced at the drinks in her hands. 

“Told’ya. So, what’d they get?”

“Uh, coke, two waters with lemon, and an iced tea.”

“Thanks,” he said, scribbling the info onto his notepad. 

She was just about to turn the corner into the dining area when Sun tapped her shoulder. “Don’t forget the lemon for the iced tea too,” he grabbed a lemon with a pair of tongs and carefully dropped it in.

“Oh shit, right.” 

She walked to the customers and passed the drinks out with probably the biggest smile of the day due to very recent revelations. “Here you go! _Now_ your server will be right with you.” She chuckled and walked back to the front to be ready for anyone else that walked in, a delighted expression plastered onto her face once more. After a couple minutes passed, Sun walked to the customers with one of his trademark grins and his notepad out and ready. “Hello, how are you all doin’ today? You guys and gals ready to order?”

* * *

It was nearing five o’clock which meant Yang had to start counting the register. She was glad it wasn’t really busy towards the end of the shift like how Violet’s had been. A few minutes later, she was sure she had counted everything was proven right when the amount in her register was exact. 

_Nice_ , her fist pumped the air before turning around making sure there were no more dirty tables. There weren’t. She turned back and totaled up Sun’s tips. She grabbed the money from the register and walked to the back. “Here you go, total tips.”

He smiled as he took the money. “Thanks,” he put the money in his pocket. “Oh, don’t leave before I give you your money. I just wanna finish up that last table.”

“Sure thing.” 

Sun walked back to his last table and Yang could hear him asking if they needed anything else before giving them the check. He came back and started counting his money. 

“Alright Yang, here you go. Don’t go spending it all at once,” he joked before adding, “Seriously though, that was a pretty fun shift. You did a good job for your first lunch shift. See you Friday.” He gave her a genuine smile and waved goodbye.

“Thanks, see you later!” She waved back at him before walking to the back where she clocked out and grabbed her gear. 

Bumblebee’s engine roared to life and she drove home, thinking about the text Sun showed her from the girl with the glowing amber eyes.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> i really like this chapter bc of the interactions yang has with sun haha. as always, feedback, comments, kudos, and stuff are amazing, thank you. kinda sped through proofreading and stuff so oops if you see a mistake lol.


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